Blue Knights settle for tie with Wildcats

LUNENBURG -- Monday night's game between the Lunenburg and Gardner boys' soccer teams had a playoff feel with both teams aggressively batting in this Wachusett A rivalry game.

Fittingly after both squads tallied markers in the first half, they settled for a hard-fought 1-1 tie, after a second half stalemate on the Lunenburg High FieldTurf.

Lunenburg improves to an impressive 7-1-3 (4-1-1 Wachusett A), while Gardner bumps up to 6-2-3 (2-2-2 Wachusett A). Gardner will take to the pitch again on Wednesday when it visits Tyngsboro.

The Blue Knights will be back in action when they travel Tahanto for a matchup at 3:30 on Wednesday, with the hope of inching closer to a league title. Lunenburg has already clinched a playoff spot but with the tie run the risk of falling a half game behind first place Bromfield (5-2-3, 4-1 Wachusett A) in the quest for the league title.

"It was a disappointing tie," Lunenburg head coach Mike Gutzler said. "I thought Gardner played with a little more intensity than we did in second half. I didn't think we passed well in the second half, we made it more of a kick and run game which is not our style. But I thought we outplayed them in the first half. It was a very important game because we were tied with Bromfield, and now we need help."

Gardner came out and had opportunities in the opening minutes, but Lunenburg made its early chance count.

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Sam Keegan distributed the ball to the deep left side of the field where Sam Christensen collected it. Christensen drove in a little bit then launched a bullet from about 25 yards out that arched into the far corner of the net, putting the Blue Knights on top 1-0 in the ninth minute.

"That first goal slowed them down," Gutzler said. "But we didn't follow up. We should've scored another one right away, and I think that would have put the lid on them."

The Wildcats responded, peppering Lunenburg senior goalkeeper John Lahti (eight saves) with a pair of point blank shots from Jose Herrerra and George Thornton. But Lahti held strong, denying both scoring chances with 14 minutes remaining until recess.

The persistence of Herrerra and Thornton paid off shortly afterwards. Herrerra launched a lead pass from midfield to Thornton who was shaded slightly to the right of the goal. Thornton caught up to it, then lifted a shot into the left corner of the net, which knotted the game up at 1-1 in the 34th minute.

"Thornton from Herrerra has been said a lot from us this season," Gardner head coach Bill Van Valkenburg said. "Thornton has been finding a way to finish this year. At the beginning of the year I wasn't sure if we had a finisher, but Thornton has taken on that role. Herrerra just knows where to find him."

Near the midpoint of the second half the Herrerra to Thornton connection nearly worked again, but the cross bounced off of Thornton's knee and into the hands of Lahti.

Lunenburg attempted its two best unsuccessful scoring chances within 30 seconds of each other in the second half. Christensen broke free on a breakaway, however Gardner goalie Christian Newton (eight saves) slid out and stuffed the scoring chance. Shortly following the scoring chance, Lunenburg senior midfielder Georges Tenie took the direct kick from 20 yards out, which Newton jumped up and grabbed to preserve the tie.

"Lunenburg is the type of team that doesn't need a lot of time to pull the trigger," Van Valkenburg said. "As the game wore on we started to recognize that a little bit. I knew this was going to be a battle tonight, this was a quality team and to get a point on the road I'm really proud of our guys."

About five minutes following Lunenburg's threat Herrerra nearly capitalized. Herrerra launched a seemingly harmless high shot from a decent depth, but suddenly it dropped and headed right under the cross bar. Lahti came up clutch when he deflected it over the back of the net and out of harm's way.

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